Tesla Announced Affordable Electric Car Model 3 to be Released Next Year

As Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, announced the company earnings on Wednesday, on top of that, he also announced that the Tesla Model 3 will be released in March 2016. Tesla Model 3 is an affordable electric car which is going to cost about $35,000 before the government subsidy. It faces competition from other car manufacturer such as Nissan Leaf which costs about $29,000 and Chevy Bolt which costs about $30,000.

Elon Musk also mentioned that the date could change. He expects the car to be on sale by mid 2017, although the real date could be later that year. Chevy Bolt by GM is expected to be released on the road in 2017.

The cheapest Tesla car is the Model S 70D which costs $75,000. Currently, the average of buying car in U.S. in 2013 was about $32,086 according to Kelley’s Blue Book.

Tesla Model 3 will be made from steel instead of aluminium which is easier and cheaper to work with. Aluminium also need to be handled more carefully than steel as such steel is chosen as the car body material.

Musk also mentioned the progress with Tesla Model X which is expected to be the company’s electric SUV. The pre-order for the model will start in July 2015 and the shipment should be starting in Q4.